Bed bugs are flat, oval, non-flying insects that may be commonly mistaken for ticks or small cockroaches; However, unlike these pests, adult bed bugs are usually reddish-brown and about the size of an apple seed. Bed bugs feast on human and animal blood, sucking the blood usually at night. They release a chemical as they bite through skin to numb the flesh. Humans may not know when they are being bitten. Bed bugs typically live in mattresses, bedding, headboards, bed frames and springs, couches, and other furniture, laying lots of tiny eggs and increasing the population extremely fast when source of blood is available.
Bed bugs are a national obsession because their population has jumped by 500% in the United States in just a few recent years. The current most well known methods are still not efficient to get rid of them.
Bed bugs were nearly wiped out in most areas in the 1940s and 1950s with the use of DDT, a toxic pesticide that has been banned. Without DDT, bed bugs are difficult to kill; modern extermination typically requires a multiple approach using heat (steam and a washer/dryer) and/or freezing cold, plus a variety of insecticides. These methods are not efficient for eliminating bed bugs. Hotels and resorts are at an extremely high risk of bed bug infestation. Bed bugs can be a particularly severe problem in apartment buildings where they spread from unit to unit.
Although only about one-third of people visibly react to bed bug bites (others are bit but nothing shows on their skin), most people realize that they have a bed bug infestation when they see bites on their skin and feel uncontrollably itchy, or when they notice small blood spots on linens, mattresses, or even walls near the bed.
A typical treatment is as follows. Homeowners or tenants are required to launder all clothing, bedding, and draperies; put all possessions in drawers and closets inside sealable bags or containers; move large furniture away from walls; vacuum and clean the rooms on treatment days; vacate the premises; and seal mattresses in mattress encasements (U.S. Pat. No. 7,849,543) because bed bugs inside mattress are difficult to deal with. The company hired to treat the building should treat all baseboards, picture frames, bed frames, dressers, drawers, and tables. Usually there is no guarantee to eliminate every bed bug in the room after the first treatment and multiple visits of professional services may be needed.